Ticking Bombs
by BrittneyTodosey
Summary: After a horrible breakup with Eli, Clare finds herself falling for none other than Fitz. Will their relationship work out? Or will it turn out to be a bigger mess than what she had with Eli?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:  
So.. I'm pretty much giving up on "My Dear, Take What You Want From Me." Sorry. I just, suck, basically. -.- This will suck, as well.. But oh well. This story will be Flare/Clitz. There aren't many of them around. So, I figured I'd give it a shot. This takes place sometime after 'Halo pt. 2'. I'm infering the Fitz has gotten out of juvie, and is now back at Degrassi. Anywho, I'll get on with the story now.

x-x-x

Clare was sitting on a bench outside of the Dot. Her cheeks were stained with tears, and the tissue in her hands was growing thin; she had been playing with it nervously for the past half hour.

As she sat there, she played over the day's events in her mind. It had started out like any other day; she woke up, ate breakfast, showered, and went to spend time with Eli, which was always the perfect way to complete her day. But this time, it somehow ended in a horrible fight.

She blew her nose into the tissue again, and closed her eyes, letting her head fall backwards in exhaustion. "Are you alright?" she heard a familiar voice ask, followed by footsteps as the person grew closer.

Upon opening her eyes, she saw Fitz. He was wearing his usual attire, but something about him looked different. She let her eyes trail his body in an attempt to figure out what it was; but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"I'm fine." She mumbled quietly, and finally allowed her eyes to meet his. That's when she understood what was different. It wasn't anything about his appearance. It was his personality. How did she know that? Clare believed that you could tell a lot from a person's eyes; and this was a perfect example of that.

Where there used to be hatred in his eyes, there was now a hint of fear, and lonliness. This brought a look of understanding to her face, and he looked away from her gaze. "Have you been crying?" His voice sounded different as well. Every time they had spoken before, he sounded as if he was looking for trouble, but now he just seemed sincere.

She nodded slowly, and scooted over on the bence so that he could sit next to her. Fitz took a seat, and turned to face her slowly. "Want to talk about it?" She looked puzzled. Why did he care if she was upset? This wasn't like Fitz at all. Maybe being in lockup really did change him.

Pushinig the thoughts from her head, Clare shook her head simply, "No thanks." It wasn't that she didn't need someone to talk to, because she did, but she just wasn't sure if she should talk to him about Eli. With a nod, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and pulled one out quickly. He stuck the it in his mouth, and lit it up, inhaling deeply before looking at her.

She scrunched her face up at him, and he laughed at her, causing the smoke to be around her, and in her face. Clare coughed a little, and stood up. "Well, I should leave." She felt awkward, sitting here with Fitz. "No, you can stay. You just looked like you could use some company." She nodded; it was true, but Fitz wasn't exactly her first choice in companionship.

Regardless of how Eli felt about her right now, she still cared about him. It still hurt her to think about all the things Fitz had done to him. She sat back down, but Fitz didn't go anywhere. She looked at him in confusion, and he flashed her a small smile. "You need someone here, if you didn't, you would've left."

Clare furrowed her brow, and opened her mouth to speak, but closed it a second later. He was right. She did need some sort of company, and she didn't have many choices. Alli was off with her new friends, Adam was with Eli, and Jenna was busy with baby stuff, they weren't really friends anyways. She sighed, and he chuckled softly. "Come on." He said quietly, and took one last puff of his cigarette before flicking it off to the side.

Fitz started walking away from the dot, and Clare remained on the bench. He turned around after a few steps, and looked into her eyes. "You coming, Edwards?" She sat there for a few moments in silence, debating whether or not to go. But in the end, all she could think was that she had nothing to lose.

Clare stood up, and threw away the old tissue in her hands. As it fell out of her hands, so did the events of the day. She smiled softly to herself, then turned to Fitz, and ran to catch up with him. He smiled down at her, and they silently started walking towards his house.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note:  
Blah~ I am starting to feel shitty about this story. But I don't want to like, stop..again. So, I'm going to keep going. I wanted this chapter to be longer, because I want to explain a little bit about the fight.

x-x-x

The walk to Fitz's house was quiet, and slightly awkward. Both of them seemed to be tense; their body language was definitely not that of friends. But they weren't..right? Clare had a puzzled expression on her face as she contemplated her intentions.

Why exactly was she actually going to Fitz's house? She knew the kind of person he was. Or, atleast she thought she did. He was supposed to be some sort of monster, but she knew it wasn't true. The fact that he actually seemed sincere about wanting to help her was proof of that.

Clare spent most of the walk looking at him thoughtfully. She was still trying to decide exactly what it was that she saw in his eyes; exactly what it was that made him different. The more she studied him, the more it became apparent to her. Yeah, he was still Fitz, but he seemed almost..human.

Fitz gave her a quick sideways glance, noticing her eyes on him, and smirked ever so slightly. Upon being caught, a small smile grew on her face, and her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink.

"You're blushing." He stated nonchalantly, keeping his eyes on her as he walked. This caused Clare's cheeks to turn a deeper shade of pink, and she stuttered out a hardly coherent "N-no, I'm, uhh.. No I'm not." Something Fitz had to admit, was that she was cute when she was nervous. But that was nothing out of the ordinary. Clare Edwards was cute all of the time.

Fitz's smile grew as the curly haired girl stumbled over her words. "Whatever you say.." She bit her lip in nervousness as they approached his house. Fitz lead her into the livingroom silently; there was a blank look plastered on his face as she looked around.

The house wasn't what she had expected, at all; it was much like her own in the way it was decorated. Fitz motioned to the couch before he started to walk away, and Clare responded by sitting down.

"Want a drink?" Fitz's called from what Clare assumed was the kitchen, "Oh, sure." After a few moments of clicking bottles, and Clare sitting alone awkwardly, Fitz returned with two beers. At this, she wrinkled her nose. She wasn't going to drink..was he even being serious?

"It's all we had." He explained simply, setting one of the bottles on the coffee table in front of her. Clare stared at the drink in front of her, but did nothing to show that she would drink it.

"So..what happened?" Fitz finally spoke up, giving her an interested glance. Clare sighed; still not sure if she could trust him with such things. He took a swig of his beer while she gathered her thoughts. He gave her a questioning look one last time, and she opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "You don't have to tell me."

She nodded, acknowledging what she already knew. "I want to." With a smile from Fitz, she was encouraged to tell him everything. At first, her words were slowy and unsteady, but the look on his face seemed to be gentle and understanding, which made her feel more at ease.

"A few weeks ago, I, uh, found out he was..well, getting high, I guess." By he, Fitz could assume she meant Eli, and he had an almost uncontrollable urge to laugh. Eli, getting high? It was a funny thought to him. But somehow he refrained from doing so, and nodded once, as if to tell her to continue.

Clare was fiddling with her fingers, biting her lip, playing the the hem of her shirt, and anything else she could think of to calm herself. "He told me he'd stop.. But then today, he was high. Again."

Her eyes began to grown with tears as she told him what had happened. To prevent from seeming even more vulnerable aroudn him, she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I tried to talk to him about it, but he was so..unlike himself."

She opened her eyes again in an attempt to gauge his reaction; but he seemed emotionless, which somehow made her feel worse about the situation. "He just..snapped." The grip of her teeth on her lower lip tightened as she held back the inevitable tears. "I can't be with someone who does drugs!" She almost yelled, the tears finally spilling from her eyes once more.

Her body was shaking with silent sobs; she was desperate for him to reach out to her, or anything. All she wanted was to be comforted in this moment. Unfortunately, comforting was not Fitz's strong point.

"Are you going to say anything..?" She mumbled, now irritated by the fact that he had offered to help, but was not helping at all. Fitz scratched at his head nervously for a moment before finally speaking up. "What was he on?" His voice didn't sound insistent, just a little curious.

Clare looked up at him, wiping her eyes before giving him an answer. "Ritalin." A small smile of recognition grew on his face, and he nodded slowly. She frowned at him, her eyebrows knitting together in the process.

"Why are you smiling?" Her voice sounded demanding and hurt; which was expected. She had just spilled her heart out to him, and now he was mocking her. Forget him being different, some people just never change. "No, I'm sorry.. I was just thinking about- nothing." Fitz frowned apologetically at her, and sighed in frustration.

Could he even do anything to help her? The two sat in silence for a moment before Fitz spoke up. "Seems to me that you really could use that beer after all, Edwards." Clare looked troubled for a minute, unsure of how to answer. "Fitz, you know I don't drink."

With a nod, he finished off the rest of his beer. "Things change." It was a simple statement, but Clare knew that he meant so much more than what he implied. He was right, though; things did change.

She wouldn't have thought that Eli would do drugs, but he did. She wouldn't have thought that her and Eli would break up, but they did. And she wouldn't have thought that she'd be talking to Fitz, let alone sitting alone in his house, but here she was.

Clare grabbed the bottle sitting near her and twisted the cap off slowly. She lifted it to her lips and took a small sip, instantly frowning at the taste. Fitz smirked at her and got up to get another beer for himself. "Feel free to turn on the TV." He said softly, walking away from her.

She nodded at him, but didn't acknowledge the television. Instead, she kept taking small sips from the new liquid in her hands. It wasn't exactly a pleasant taste; but she was learning to accept changes. Maybe it was time for her start making changes in her life.

By the time Fitz was back, half of the beer was already gone. "Not so bad, eh?" She frowned at him at first; but it was quickly replaced with a smile after realizing why he was teasing her. Clare Edwards was alone at Fitz's house, drinking. That's definitely not something she would normally do. But hey, everyone needs some spice sometimes..right?


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Hello! So, I realized I make a lot of mistakes when I write. Oops. It's cause I hate reading over it..and I don't have a spell check thingy on the writing thing I use. -_- It's a bit of a problem. I'll look into to. Although, I have no internet at the moment..so I kinda can't. But I will when I put this up. Wow, I ramble. Anyways, this is going to take place a few days after the last chapter, alright? Leave me reviews with suggestions, questions, critiques, whatever~ Alright..on to the story.

x-x-x

Clare put on the finishing touches of her makeup before taking a final look at herself. The girl who looked back at her through the mirror wasn't the Clare she knew. Everybody could notice the changes in her. Not only had her behavior changed since she started hanging out with Fitz, but her appearance had started changing as well.

Although it had only been about two weeks since Eli and her had broken up; she and Fitz were growing extremely close. They were together in the hallways at school, during lunch, after school, and just about every day that they didn't have school; with the exception of a few Sundays. Church hadn't been on Clare's list of priorities lately, but she did go occasionally, although she had been forced by her parents.

_You make me feel like I'm living the teenage dream— _ Clare snapped out of her daze when her phone started ringing. The caller ID read 'Fitz', which she figured meant that he was there. "Hello?" "I'm here." A small laugh escaped her lips as she picked up her bag off of the floor. "I'll be out in a minute." It was becoming easier for her to read him; and she felt a small sense of satisfaction whenever she was right.

Luckily, it was her dad's week with her, and he was still at work. Not that he payed much attention to where she went anyways. But just to make sure, she wrote him a note telling him where she was; she didn't want him calling her while she was gone or anything. 'Hey Dad! Went to Alli's, be home tomorrow! Love, Clare' She stuck the note to the fridge before heading out the door, and getting into Fitz's car.

She smiled shyly at Fitz as he pulled out of the driveway. "Where are we going?" She asked him quietly; even though she was sure she already knew the answer. "There's a party at the ravine tonight." Once again, she was right, and a small smirk came to her face.

He gave her a questioning look, but didn't press anything. Fitz wasn't one to start confrontation; not with Clare, at least. But history had shown that he was indeed different with other people, Eli being a perfect example of that.

They had arrived around six; and she thought they were going ot be early. But the large amount of cars already there proved otherwise. "These ravine kids sure like to get their parties started early." Clare commented, getting out of the car. Fitz chuckled slightly, "Hey, I'm one of these "ravine kids", be nice." She smiled over at him, and instinctively grabbed his hand as they walked towards all of the people.

There weren't many familiar faces that Clare saw, but she felt surprisingly at ease as the two walked around. There was music playing, but he led her to a few chairs surrounding a fire, and left to get them drinks. "Clare?" An unfamiliar girl's voice asked. "Uhh, yeah?" "Who are you here with?" The girl looked confused to be seeing her here, but Clare shrugged if off as Fitz came back with two cups.

He nodded at the girl who had been questioning her, and she turned away quickly. "Who's that?" Clare asked him, sniffing at the neon liquid in the cup before taking a sip. She puckered her face for a moment, and took another sip before he answered. "Oh, uhh, Julie..or something..?" He didn't seem very confident in his answer; but it didn't matter much. They were here to have fun. She smiled at him, and kept drinking from her cup.

"So, what exactly do you do down here all the time?" Fitz shrugged, and placed his arm over the back of her chair. "Just hang out, mostly." That didn't seem to be much fun to her, but she accepted it, and kept drinking. Whatever he had given her was slightly sour, but didn't have a real alcoholic taste. They sat like that for a while, occasionally getting up or moving around to say hi to somebody, or get another drink, but nothing really drastic.

After about an hour or two, it was obvious that Clare was pretty buzzed. She was walking around swaying back and forth to the music that was playing, and begging Fitz to dance with her. "You can if you want to." He stated simply, shrugging her off to continue his conversation with his friends. "Fine.." She pouted, leaving him to dance in the crowd of people.

Clare was stumbling over her own feet; the alcohol making itself apparent with every one of her movements. Lucky for her, she had stayed out of pretty much everyone's way, until she ran into the back of a boy.

"Watch where you're—Clare?" "E-Eli?" She slurred, a frown growing on her face. Why was he here? She turned her attention to her hands; and her question was answered. Ritalin: the very reason she had broken up with him to begin with. "Clare, what are you doing here?" She scoffed, and pushed a stray hair behind her ear before slurring out, "I could ask you the same thing."

His green eyes grew dark as he inspected her, and he shook his head. "Drinking, Clare, really?" "Oh, don't try to act all superior with me Eli!" She narrowed her own blue eyes before crossing her arms and turning around; almost tripping in the process. Quickly, she scanned the area for Fitz, and made her way to him.

"Hey, Fitz, do you think we could leave soon?" She asked softly, sitting on his lap playfully. "Uhh, sure." He didn't seem to notice her excessive flirting, but Eli sure did. Clare smirked as she looked over at him, then turned her attention back to Fitz; placing a small kiss on his cheek, and then another on his lips before getting up. This did bring a reaction out of him, but he figured it was just the alcohol.

That was, until he saw the black haired boy glaring at them. "Clare, what's he doing here?" Fitz asked through clenched teeth; his eyes not leaving Eli's as he turned towards her. She shrugged, and placed her hand in his, as if to make it seem like she didn't care. "Drugs, probably." Her voice cracked a bit, and he knew that she was only putting on a show for him.

As much as he would like to start a fight with Eli, this was much more fun. Fitz calmed down a bit, and kissed Clare once more, and a little more roughly, before placing an arm around her waist, and leading her away from the crowd.

Eli glared at them as they walked away, but he stood still. He hated Fitz, and he hated seeing Clare with him, but there was still the part of him that loved and respected her. Fighting in front of her would only give her more reason to hate him; which was the opposite of what he wanted.

Clare, however, wouldn't give in that easily. Despite her alcohol induced haze, she really did enjoy being with Fitz. Even if they weren't 'together'..she did want to be. As they exited the woods, she placed another soft kiss on his lips, and made her way to his car.


End file.
